Starwood scores profit, credits Hawaii with much of it

HONOLULU and WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (HawaiiNewsNow) - Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. has posted a $339 million fourth quarter profit, and says Hawaii is one of its best markets.

"By containing costs we are translating these higher revenues into higher profits," said CEO Fritz van Paasschen in a statement.

Starwood lost money in the fourth quarter a year earlier, but said in 2010 its revpar - revenue per available room - rose 10% in North America and 20% in the Asia Pacific region.

Revenue rose 7% to $1.34 billion, a sign of economic improvement if not quite as much as Wall Street has expected.

The parent company of the Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin and W hotel brands does not own hotels in Hawaii but manages more than a dozen properties including the Sheraton Waikiki, Royal Hawaiian, Moana Surfrider and Princess Kaiulani hotels in Waikiki, and major resorts on Kauai, Maui and the Big Island.

Starwood said Thursday it got 7% of its total 2010 earnings from Hawaii; only New York, with 9%, accounted for more.

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